US
GDP, a measure of total goods and services output within U.S. borders,
grew at a 2.5% annual rate during Q4 2006, higher than the 2.2% reported a
month ago, and up from 2% in the third quarter, according to the Commerce
Department, reports Reuters.

National
Association for Business Economics survey of 47 top forecasters predicted
that the overall US economy will grow by 2.7% this year, the slowest
annual increase in the gross domestic product since a 1.6% rise in 2002,
on a greater restraint from a worse-than-expected slump in housing
market.

The US economy grew at a faster-than-expected 3.5% pace in the final
quarter of 2006 on strong consumers spending, despite the housing slump,
according to
advance estimates released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the
third quarter, real GDP increased 2.0%.

U.S.
GDP growth slowed to a 2% pace in the third quarter, a slight downgrade
from the 2.2% annual rate estimated a month ago for Q3, according to final
estimates released
by the Commerce Department. The price index for gross domestic purchases
increased 2.2 percent in the third quarter.

The
U.S. economy grew at an annual rate of 2.2% in the third quarter, compared
with 2.6% in the second quarter, according to the "preliminary"
estimates released
by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The third-quarter growth rate was
revised up 0.6 percentage point from the "advance" estimates
released in October.

The U.S. government cut
its economic growth forecasts through 2008 on Tuesday, citing the
weakness of America’s housing market.
In an updated economic forecast, the administration said it expects
inflation-adjusted GDP to increase 3.1% this year, down from
its June forecast of 3.6%. GDP growth is firther expected to slow to 2.9% in
2007, down from its previous estimate of 3.3% (WSJ).
In 2008, the government sees growth of 3.1%, slightly lower than its
prior estimate of 3.2%

U.S.
real gross domestic product (GDP) growth slows to 1.6% in the third
quarter, the lowest growth in more than 3 years,
according to estimates released today by the Bureau of Economic
Analysis. U.S. GDP grew at 2.6% during Q2 and a robust 5.6% during Q1 of
2006. The third quarter's 1.6% growth rate was the weakest
since the first quarter of 2003, when the economy grew at a 1.2%
annual rate.

Blue Chip Economic Indicators said
forecasters it surveyed think the U.S. economy expanded at only a 2.3%
annual rate in the July-September period, which would be the smallest gain
since the hurricane-dampened fourth quarter of last year. A month ago,
forecasters were looking for a somewhat more spirited 2.7% third-quarter
increase (reports
Reuters)

3Q'06

4Q'06

2006

1Q'07

2Q'07

US
GDP Growth

2.3%

2.4%

3.5%

2.6%

2.6%

Source:
Blue Chip Economic Indicators

Weakness in housing and autos were
particular drags on the economy in the third quarter, the newsletter said.
The government will release its first snapshot on third quarter economic
growth on October 27.

The
economy grew at an annual rate of 2.6% in the second
quarter, 0.3 percentage point less than in the
"preliminary" estimate of 2.9% and 3.0 percentage points less
than in the first quarter, according to the "final" estimates
released by the Bureau of
Economic Analysis. The second-quarter slowdown comes after the economy
sprinted ahead in the first three months of this year, expanding at a 5.6%
pace, the strongest spurt in 2 1/2 years.

Second-quarter corporate
profits grew 18.5% from the same quarter a year ago. Profits
of financial corporations increased 29.6% and profits of
nonfinancial corporations increased 10.7%.

The economy grew at an annual rate
of 2.9% in the second quarter of 2006, compared with 5.6% in the
first quarter, according to the "preliminary" estimates released
by the U.S. Bureau of
Economic Analysis. The growth rate was revised up 0.4 percentage point
from the "advance" estimates released in July. BEA also released
its first estimate of second-quarter corporate profits, which increased
20.5% from the same quarter a year ago.

The deceleration in second-quarter GDP growth primarily
reflected a deceleration in consumer spending on durable goods, a downturn
in investment in equipment and software, and a downturn in Federal
government spending. The upward revision from the advance estimates
reflected revisions to exports of goods, investment in nonresidential
structures, and inventory investment.

Excluding food and energy prices, the price index for
gross domestic purchases increased 2.9% in the second quarter, compared
with an increase of 3.0% in the first.

Current-dollar GDP -- the market value of the nation's
output of goods and services -- increased 6.3%, or $201.3 billion, in the
second quarter to a level of $13,209.7 billion. In the first
quarter, current-dollar GDP increased 9.0%, or $277.9 billion.